EDU 586 - Week 2
We are rapping up week 2 of EDU 586. I find the course interesting so far. Being an introvert, the concept of reflection is natural. Some classmates have PLCs at their school which appear to be working very well. I hope to add addition information to my post over the weekend
Friday, 30 January 2015
Thursday, 21 August 2014
August 19, 2014
I attended a session on assessment today at the NBTA building in Fredericton. Some of the information reinforced my understanding of assessment and supported information discussed in EDUC 6153 "Assessment of Learning". The speaker addressed PLCs and some of her concerns.
August 18, 2014
TechEast 2014
I attended ASD-W TechEAST 2014 today in Fredericton today. This was the first TeachEast conference and I found it enjoyable.
I attended ASD-W TechEAST 2014 today in Fredericton today. This was the first TeachEast conference and I found it enjoyable.
Wednesday, 13 August 2014
Last Day - EDC 533
Post #1 - August 21, 2014
EDC 533 has ended. This has been a wonder and surprisingly interesting course. I am a bit sad that it is over. Our text Century 21 is sort of like reading the Bible. Everything I read it, I learn something new or see a subject from a different standpoint. I have summarized the first four chapters below and developed a few new ideas that will be implemented this fall. Hard to believe that I return to school in just under two weeks:
EDC 533 has ended. This has been a wonder and surprisingly interesting course. I am a bit sad that it is over. Our text Century 21 is sort of like reading the Bible. Everything I read it, I learn something new or see a subject from a different standpoint. I have summarized the first four chapters below and developed a few new ideas that will be implemented this fall. Hard to believe that I return to school in just under two weeks:
Chapter 1 to 4 Summary
Information and concepts discussed in
our text ‘Curriculum 21” by Heidi
Hayes Jacobs will have a both short and long term impact on my approach to
delivering curriculum in my classroom. I found the first few pages of chapter
one very powerful and thought provoking. Her first paragraph regarding the educational
generation gap hit the nail on the head. The education system needs to meet
students at their level in order to make productive connections. We need to
connect with learners in order for optimum learning to occur. From a
technological standpoint, we have tried to fix the educational generation gap
by incorporate technology and not to rebuild our curriculum based on
technology. This has not been the most effective approach.
In the second paragraph of chapter one she
asks “what it is we want students to know and be able to do?” One of the key
ideas I have discovered this summer as I progressed through this course and
EDUC 6153 “Assessment as an Instructional
Practice” is that I would like to reinvent how I teach my courses. Teaching
high school in New Brunswick is a bit mechanical. At the beginning of the
semester we provide students with a course syllabus. We go to our curriculum
outcomes and copy and paste the outcomes into our syllabus. We then provide
students with two progress reports which include outcomes copied and pasted
from the course syllabus. Has this process really answered the aforementioned
questions or have teachers simply completed a required process? I also like her
statement “…using curriculum on a constant replay button…”. Teachers need to recognize
that hitting the replay button in curriculum delivery may not be the best
approach for student learning.
Jacobs has a number a thought provoking
ideas in the first four chapters. However, I feel that if I can return to
school this fall and implement the following ideas that student learning will
improve:
1.
Review the essential outcomes
to my course and find opportunities to provide students with technology based
tools to learn these outcomes. I plan on using both the MIT and Coursera website to provide students with
supplemental materials.
2.
Provide students a more clear
understanding of what I want them to know and why it is important. Providing
them with a hard copy of a course syllabus and progress report documents is not
sufficient. This information needs to explain to them.
3.
I need to consider using a problem
based approach and not a content based approach to teaching curriculum.
4.
I am going to expand my use of assessment
tools an increase my use of 21st century assessment items (podcasts,
blogs ect…)
Hayes has made some great arguments as
to why we need to make significant changes to our education system in the first
four chapters of her book.
She provides some short-term steps regarding
the revision of assessment and skills to help prepare students for the 21st
century. Our education system needs to include 21st century proficiencies
and just not subject based standards and indicators. I respect the fact that she
states that these changes can occur slowly. Every school year in New Brunswick,
a new program will be rolled out which needs to be completely implemented. We
don’t have any recognition of the change process.
We need to re-evaluate our content. We
need to decide what should be kept and what can we eliminate. Can some topics
be eliminated altogether? Some educators need to change their mental model that
“the good old days are still good enough”. We tend to teach subject content in
silos and don’t make an effort to connect or integrate subject content. We need
to focus on replacing content and not simply integrating content. She provides
us with “A 21st Century Pledge” which provides us with steps to
helps us prepare education for 21st century learners.
She provides us with a vision of a new
school systems and steps required to implement this new system. She identifies
four structures that require major alteration: Schedules, how learners are
grouped, the configuration of personal and space (physical and virtual). In order
to make these changes, the entire school community must move forward
proactively. She provides the reader with seven tenets to upgrade or change curriculum.
She provides some ideas on how different subjects such as science, literacy/English,
social studies and physics education could be changed to meet the needs of a
changing society. I especially found her idea of students learning multiple
languages to be interesting.
Her suggestions of changing school structures
are significant and would have to involve teacher unions and associations. In
New Brunswick, collective agreements would need to be changed. Everyone’s
mental model of education from parents, educators, students and post secondary
institutions would need to change for this to occur.
In her book “Century 21”, Hayes has laid the groundwork to support education
reform. These suggestions can at the course level, teacher level, school level
and system level. Classroom teachers need to realize they can support this
change process.
Post #2 - August 13, 2014
I enjoyed creating my first professional
blog. I think this is a create way to keep an electronic record of what I have
learned in this course and future courses. A blog is also a running record of
my growth and knowledge. Sometimes we need to take a step back to see where we
are going. A blog provides me with an opportunity to do this.
I did add some entries into my blog for
EDUC 6153 this summer. I plan on using the blog in my next course as well.
I plan on working with my grade 11 students
and have them create their own learning blog. They will benefit from expressing
their own growth in writing. Our students can benefit from learning about other
Google+ applications such as hangout.
Sunday, 10 August 2014
August 10, 2014
August 10, 2014
Watching a great show an PBS about ADD. I wonder how many times teachers told students that if they had just paid attention in class you would have done better on a test. The video can be purchased from Amazon.
I am also reading up on Australian Government's Department of Education. Interesting how their website focuses on how much money is invested in each area of education. This approach is a bit of a turn-off for me. I don't feel we should be openly talking about money when dealing with education. yes, funding is part of the process and needs to be discussed. However, it should not be a primary discussion.
Watching a great show an PBS about ADD. I wonder how many times teachers told students that if they had just paid attention in class you would have done better on a test. The video can be purchased from Amazon.
I am also reading up on Australian Government's Department of Education. Interesting how their website focuses on how much money is invested in each area of education. This approach is a bit of a turn-off for me. I don't feel we should be openly talking about money when dealing with education. yes, funding is part of the process and needs to be discussed. However, it should not be a primary discussion.
Tuesday, 29 July 2014
Week 7 EDC 533
Post 1 July 29, 2014
The day started out on a positive note. Our team held our final video conference at 6:45am Eastern. Everyone is doing well but have a number of assignments to complete before August 6.
Post 2 July 3, 2014
It is the first Sunday of August. Three weeks for now I will be preparing to return to school. This will be my 8th year teaching at SVHS. I have learned a lot about assessment for learning and just how dynamic curriculum is. I have been working on my final project in EDC 533. I hope to summit it later today.
I am working away on my Week 5 Forum (a bit late) response and thinking about what Heidi Hayes Jacobs had to say in Ch 3. As I look around my basement office, there are several examples a technological change. I am watching my Sony TV which I purchased in 1991. I had to add a digital to analogue box to watch MPBN and a Shaw/Star Choice satellite box to watch TV. It still works, but does not have the picture quality our wide screen does in the living room. My Sony stereo with cassette sits on the shelf. I listen to the radio a bit. But is much more convenient to listen to a show on the computer. I have an old Pentium III and Pentium IV laptop in my office. They still work but are very slow. Windows XP still works but has discontinued support. If we are not paying close attention life can go on and improve and we will miss all the benefits. The same thing can happen with curriculum. I don't think it is practical to upgrade curriculum every five to ten years. Like my old Pentium III, it will still work - but way would one want to use it all day.
The day started out on a positive note. Our team held our final video conference at 6:45am Eastern. Everyone is doing well but have a number of assignments to complete before August 6.
Post 2 July 3, 2014
It is the first Sunday of August. Three weeks for now I will be preparing to return to school. This will be my 8th year teaching at SVHS. I have learned a lot about assessment for learning and just how dynamic curriculum is. I have been working on my final project in EDC 533. I hope to summit it later today.
I am working away on my Week 5 Forum (a bit late) response and thinking about what Heidi Hayes Jacobs had to say in Ch 3. As I look around my basement office, there are several examples a technological change. I am watching my Sony TV which I purchased in 1991. I had to add a digital to analogue box to watch MPBN and a Shaw/Star Choice satellite box to watch TV. It still works, but does not have the picture quality our wide screen does in the living room. My Sony stereo with cassette sits on the shelf. I listen to the radio a bit. But is much more convenient to listen to a show on the computer. I have an old Pentium III and Pentium IV laptop in my office. They still work but are very slow. Windows XP still works but has discontinued support. If we are not paying close attention life can go on and improve and we will miss all the benefits. The same thing can happen with curriculum. I don't think it is practical to upgrade curriculum every five to ten years. Like my old Pentium III, it will still work - but way would one want to use it all day.
Wednesday, 23 July 2014
Week 6 - EDC 533
Post 1 July 23, 2014
I finished my second round of bailing hay yesterday. Hopefully we have lots of hay in for the sheep and horse. A bit of an incident with our horse Cisco today. I heard a noise and looked outside to see him running down the field dragging a gate. Somehow he managed to get his bridal stuck in a new gate that was standing against the barn. Thankfully I was home and was able to cut his bridal cut off and free him. A scary and stressful few minutes. Other than a few scrapes, he will be fine.
Thankfully an intense storm cell slid just North of our house and missed us. hopefully I won't have any more distractions and can focus on EDC 553. :-)
Just finished reading the article by Howard Gardner. I am a huge fan of Howard Gardner. I agree with his conclusion that a uniform education system would not be successful in the US. We don't have a uniform education system in Canada. New Brunswick students attend school up to two weeks less than other students in Canada. New Brunswick students tend not to be successful when attending out-of-province universities. Howard refers to three types of schools. This is an interesting observation. My question is, how does this observation improve student learning?
The Bracey paper reminds me of a saying that "Students who received an A in school often work under other form students who received a B in school owned by companies owned by former students who earned an C in school. It certainly is a bonus to have students who have high test scores. However, i don't believe there is a direct correlation between test scores and scores on summative assessments. I love this quote from Bracey "Only the foolish would think that 13-year-olds’ skills at bubbling in answer sheets would mean much for a nation’s well being."
The Learning Funnel paper was a bit confusing. One interesting quote was "Schools treat students' minds as one big etch-a-sketch for memorizing huge chunks of algorithms and code for a test, then wiping the slate clean for more." Students "learning" in a standardized test environment are being treated like this. I sometimes wonder if I am not doing the same thing sometimes. I do understand the theory behind Big Picture Schools. However, from what little I read, I did not see a clear connection regarding science and math. I connected with another quote "Accomplished learners are able to think, learn, make, and perform in and across complex problem areas. Working the learning funnel, particularly in creating and understanding algorithms -- rather than memorizing them..." I try to avoid asking students to memorize anything. I ask students to learn. yes, we all have to memorize things, but lets keep it to a minimum.
I did take a few minutes to watch a video on Roger Martin. Interesting short video on designing. As teachers we need to find a way so students love what they are learning.
I found the article MIT Curriculum for your High School to be personally interesting. I hope to explore this website in detail when time permits. This appears to be a good site for students who are interested in attending university and which to study science or engineering.
Post 2 July 28, 2014
I just signed on to my Twitter account for the first time since 2012. Heidi Hayes Jacobs made a comment during the SIIS 2012 meeting that all educators should be on twitter. I enjoy Facebook. However, I have not made a connection to Twitter.
Post 3 July 29, 2014
#2—Do a short summary of your persistent issue assignment for everyone to read. Two or three paragraphs should do it.
I identified two persistent issues in curriculum related to New Brunswick. The first is New Brunswick is not ready to deliver 21 century curriculum. The department had started a program call NB3-21C. This program was cancelled. We also had a funding program call Innovated Learning Fund (ILF), which was also cancelled. Both of these decisions occurred after a provincial election. Most new or revised curriculum that has been developed patched on technology and did not base curriculum around technology.
The other issues is the mental model of curriculum. We seldom question curriculum in New Brunswick and we tend to be slow updating curriculum. If students are not engaging with the curriculum, then the teacher needs to change their approach. The Department of Education is focusing on Universal Design for Learners (UDL), Universal Accommodations (UA) and Differential Instruction (DI). If teachers employ these strategies, all students will learn, even if the curriculum is twenty years old and does not embed technology.
I finished my second round of bailing hay yesterday. Hopefully we have lots of hay in for the sheep and horse. A bit of an incident with our horse Cisco today. I heard a noise and looked outside to see him running down the field dragging a gate. Somehow he managed to get his bridal stuck in a new gate that was standing against the barn. Thankfully I was home and was able to cut his bridal cut off and free him. A scary and stressful few minutes. Other than a few scrapes, he will be fine.
Thankfully an intense storm cell slid just North of our house and missed us. hopefully I won't have any more distractions and can focus on EDC 553. :-)
Just finished reading the article by Howard Gardner. I am a huge fan of Howard Gardner. I agree with his conclusion that a uniform education system would not be successful in the US. We don't have a uniform education system in Canada. New Brunswick students attend school up to two weeks less than other students in Canada. New Brunswick students tend not to be successful when attending out-of-province universities. Howard refers to three types of schools. This is an interesting observation. My question is, how does this observation improve student learning?
The Bracey paper reminds me of a saying that "Students who received an A in school often work under other form students who received a B in school owned by companies owned by former students who earned an C in school. It certainly is a bonus to have students who have high test scores. However, i don't believe there is a direct correlation between test scores and scores on summative assessments. I love this quote from Bracey "Only the foolish would think that 13-year-olds’ skills at bubbling in answer sheets would mean much for a nation’s well being."
The Learning Funnel paper was a bit confusing. One interesting quote was "Schools treat students' minds as one big etch-a-sketch for memorizing huge chunks of algorithms and code for a test, then wiping the slate clean for more." Students "learning" in a standardized test environment are being treated like this. I sometimes wonder if I am not doing the same thing sometimes. I do understand the theory behind Big Picture Schools. However, from what little I read, I did not see a clear connection regarding science and math. I connected with another quote "Accomplished learners are able to think, learn, make, and perform in and across complex problem areas. Working the learning funnel, particularly in creating and understanding algorithms -- rather than memorizing them..." I try to avoid asking students to memorize anything. I ask students to learn. yes, we all have to memorize things, but lets keep it to a minimum.
I did take a few minutes to watch a video on Roger Martin. Interesting short video on designing. As teachers we need to find a way so students love what they are learning.
I found the article MIT Curriculum for your High School to be personally interesting. I hope to explore this website in detail when time permits. This appears to be a good site for students who are interested in attending university and which to study science or engineering.
Post 2 July 28, 2014
I just signed on to my Twitter account for the first time since 2012. Heidi Hayes Jacobs made a comment during the SIIS 2012 meeting that all educators should be on twitter. I enjoy Facebook. However, I have not made a connection to Twitter.
Post 3 July 29, 2014
#2—Do a short summary of your persistent issue assignment for everyone to read. Two or three paragraphs should do it.
I identified two persistent issues in curriculum related to New Brunswick. The first is New Brunswick is not ready to deliver 21 century curriculum. The department had started a program call NB3-21C. This program was cancelled. We also had a funding program call Innovated Learning Fund (ILF), which was also cancelled. Both of these decisions occurred after a provincial election. Most new or revised curriculum that has been developed patched on technology and did not base curriculum around technology.
The other issues is the mental model of curriculum. We seldom question curriculum in New Brunswick and we tend to be slow updating curriculum. If students are not engaging with the curriculum, then the teacher needs to change their approach. The Department of Education is focusing on Universal Design for Learners (UDL), Universal Accommodations (UA) and Differential Instruction (DI). If teachers employ these strategies, all students will learn, even if the curriculum is twenty years old and does not embed technology.
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